This year I also subscribed to Modern Loss, a site launched in 2013 to tackle issues related to grief and grieving. From one of their columns: “Gmail no longer recommends that I share emails with my mother. Even if I still desperately want to.”

Oh, and this is one of the most vivid, painful things I’ve read in awhile.

White feminists, step your game up. And watch this video of a Q&A with Alice Walker. AND, whatever your identities, do not miss this Black Female Voices dialogue between Melissa Harris-Perry and bell hooks. Thank you, New School, for making this available to everyone. It’s over 90 minutes long, but I plan to watch it again and I hope you will watch it with an open humble mind and heart. Also: this piece snuck in toward the very end of the year and will have you rethinking the phrase “white allies” – as will this one from Mia McKenzie back in September.

Taking Names, a This American Life episode. I don’t listen to the show habitually, but was glad I listened to this (infuriating) one.

This spring I volunteered at MoxieCon and got to see Ann Friedman give a super-energizing and hilarious talk based on her disapproval matrix. They haven’t released a video but I’ll share it here if it appears. In the meantime, you should absolutely watch this Ann Friedman-Aminatou Sow keynote from the Online News Association conference. Among other things, it inspired me to add “Give a conference keynote with one of my BFFs” to my life list.